While the salmonella outbreak in the Eastern half of the U.S. is almost over, there has been another outbreak, this time in Arizona and Alaska.

The Center for Disease Control sent out a warning not to eat any romaine lettuce from Arizona after more than 50 people got sick due to an outbreak of E. coli that has spread to 16 states across the country.

This includes whole heads and hearts of romaine lettuce, in addition to chopped romaine and salad mixes that may contain romaine, the CDC said in their warning.

The romaine lettuce that is causing the E. coli outbreak is from the Yuma, Arizona area but a common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand has not been identified as of now.

The CDC is telling people they shouldn’t eat lettuce if they don’t know if the lettuce is “romaine” or not and instead should just throw it away.

This is the second outbreak in months that deals with romaine lettuce. However, the CDC didn’t release a warning to consumers which in return led to them getting criticized by Consumer Reports.

An infection from E. coli can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody stool, and vomiting. The bacteria can also be spread by contaminated water (always boil if unsure), animal manure, or uncooked beef.

It is not certain if we have seen the last of the E. coli outbreak with romaine lettuce, but you should take precautions right now when it comes to romaine lettuce. If you are unsure about the lettuce in the fridge, throw it out.

Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who is suing President Trump, has once again resurfaced in the news, though, to be more accurate, her lawyer has been the one making waves. Michael Avenatti, better known as Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, has recently stated that he has a DVD he is ready to release, which could prove to be very embarrassing, if not detrimental, for many of the concerned parties in the affair.

Avenatti has tweeted a picture of a DVD, warning that he will release it if President Trump or his lawyer continue to call Stormy Daniels a liar after her “60 Minutes” special. Avenatti has called his tweeted picture a “warning shot,” and so far, it seems to have worked. Trump and company have been silent on the matter, though it is uncertain how they will respond with the various scandals and responsibilities going on with the White House and Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen.

It also brings up the question of what is on the DVD that could be so frightening to Trump and his lawyer that Avenatti would feel it is sufficient to hold them off. There seems to be some implication that the DVD could contain video of Trump caught in the act of his affair with Daniels, possibly even explicit evidence. If so, what could that mean for the President and the state of the White House?

It is hard not to think back to the time of Bill Clinton, given some of the similarities that are present. Frankly, it would be shameful to have yet another president found guilty of having an affair, though few people would be surprised by this one. What is particularly mind boggling about this situation is that this affair was already an issue before Trump became President. For all of the uproar there was over Bill Clinton’s affair, many of Trump’s voters and supporters seemed to gladly ignore this side of Trump. It brings up one final question: At what point do we stop acting like Trump’s election was about his policies or character (or lack thereof), and start admitting that his election as president was merely about his pandering to hate filled rhetoric and beliefs?

This is a despicable man, not because he slept with an adult entertainer, but because he had an affair, and then chose to have his lawyer pay Daniels hush money, only to demean her in various ways when his dirty laundry gets aired. The quality of Trump’s character was well known before this and during his campaign, yet not of his supporters batted an eye. This scandal comes about, which would be enough to end the career of any president before, and there is hardly an outcry. You have to begin to wonder what this man really represents, and why it got him elected.

When they reached the place of the execution, a wooden stage, right outside of the white and gold palace, Sunny’s mouth dropped. The palace sprawled so far Sunny had trouble seeing the end of it. Instead of gargoyles, there were golden statues of the Gemini peering over the ramparts. She looked up at the statues, then at the golden cupolas, then down at the darkened moat, a waterfall pouring into it.

The crowd was divided into the different groups, Tod told her: Gemini, Cassiopeia, Taurus, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Leo. And they all milled about, like lions in cages, shooting people from opposite groups nasty looks. As soon as they got there, Isolde went over to the other Cassiopeia, and Tod and Sunny stayed back, away from everyone else. He told her to keep her head down, not look at anyone.

“Aren’t there more groups than this?” she asked, and Tod shook his head.

“No, not all the horoscopes that you know have Setareh forms. Remember, humans named the horoscopes after us. Not the other way around.”

People were shouting and cheering and waving signs, one of which said, “Death to Tyranny.” Sunny frowned. If that person was really for Eli getting killed, she thought it was kind of strange and ironic, but whatever.

“Geez,” she said. “A lot of people sure hate Eli.”

“Are you surprised?” Tod scowled, looking at the crowd around them.

“I don’t know – ” She paused. “Like what happened with him? What happened with you guys? And why are people so mean?”

Tod sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Tell it. They’re taking their sweet time,” she said. And she just needed something to get her mind off Eli and the terrifying place she’d found herself in. Maybe if she could understand, she could be more help.

When she’d asked Tod if he had a plan, he’d just shrugged, so she guessed he was still thinking. They still had time, because contrary to what Isolde had made it seem like, they’d gotten here way too early.

“Well…everyone used to be a lot nicer and friendlier. Like on Earth. Everyone’s pretty nice there.”

“Ehh,” Sunny said, shrugging her shoulders.

“But you know, they say that on Earth, most people are nice and do their best. But it’s the exact opposite on this planet. Everyone is rude and self-serving. I’d say 95 % of people are. People don’t even know the meaning of love. And if someone does love, it’s seen as a fluke. A mistake.”

“Really?” Sunny’s eyes widened. “But – it didn’t used to be like this?”

He shook his head. “No, well, at least not as bad. Everyone used to care about Earth and other planets and want to help grant the people there wishes. But then the Setareh started to get frustrated. We have long life spans. Up to a thousand years. And…people who’d been around a while saw that humans continuously made the same mistakes. They failed again and again. They turned to war and fought and killed each other. They hated others based on their beliefs. The Cassiopeia in particular were the frontrunners of the Anti Wish movement. They basically said we should stop granting wishes because humans no longer deserved our help if they were just going to mess up again and again. But the Gemini, as the rulers, disagreed and said we should continue to help. And that’s what caused the war. It was the first war on our planet.” Tod’s eyes darkened. “I wasn’t born then. But the war destroyed so much. And…” His voice cracked. “Nothing was ever the same. These people aren’t the people of the past. They’ve turned into everything they hate. They fight. They no longer care about anyone else except themselves.” He paused. “Humans aren’t perfect but you can’t expect perfection. That’s why they need our help. But no one can help now. We have too many problems.”

“Wow.” Sunny popped her tongue. “You weren’t joking. That was a long story.”

“Yeah.”

“So…what about you and Eli? What did you fight about?”

Tod scratched his neck. “Well, we at least agreed that we wanted to grant wishes again. But he wanted to continue to fight the Cassiopeia and mow down all the opposition and…I knew that we couldn’t continue to be at war. It had already destroyed so much but he just doesn’t seem to get that. Of course my parents were on his side, but as you can see – ” He gestured to the group around him. “A lot of people hate Eli. So he actually does need me. He finally got it through his big thick head – ”

“Tod.” Sunny grabbed him by the shoulder. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

Tod took a breath. He knew that he was acting just like the others, annoyed by Eli just because he had different views, but he couldn’t stand him sometimes.

After Sunny wished, nothing happened. She sighed. Of course not. It wasn’t like she’d expected anything. She shielded her eyes against the sun, and then shook her head, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach.

About a half hour passed before she felt the car lifting off the ground.

“Whoa.” She looked to her right, to see if anyone else had noticed, but everyone was focused on the road. A part of her said that the lack of sleep was causing her to hallucinate but it couldn’t be, because she saw the road growing smaller and smaller below her, before her very eyes. “What the – ” She started to panic, scanning the dashboard to see if there was some magic button she could push to get her on the ground, but there was nothing.

She’d never been on a plane before; she didn’t even like heights. Sunny shrunk against her seat, shuddering, her eyes tightly shut. “No, no, no, no,” she whispered. Another half hour passed, and then the car began to pick up speed. Letting out a breath, Sunny cracked her eyes open. The sky was dark blue and she saw a planet below, not earth, but a green and gold sphere, with black lines that looked like veins traversing it in every direction.

The car whooshed towards the planet, and Sunny gritted her teeth, trying not to scream. She failed at that.

When they hit the ground, she bit her tongue, her heart in her throat. Once her head had stopped shouting at her and her nerves were sufficiently jangled, she realized that music was still playing – banging in her ears. She ran her hands over her face, shaking. She couldn’t even focus or stop her fingers from trembling to turn it off. “Oh God, oh God.” How could she have gotten here? How could she even be alive right now? She was a human, right? Unless…

She looked at her hands and saw they were glowing. Like the sun.

She opened the car’s door and slipped out. Her feet crunched on black crunchy sand and she found herself in a small clearing. Surrounding her were tall green trees, and despite the fact that the trees were everywhere, it was still very bright.

Sunny shielded her eyes and turned around in a circle. She swallowed, and after a few moments, picked out the sound of running water. She didn’t like standing idle and so she figured she’d better follow it – at least, that was a start. She pushed through the brush and had been making good headway when she saw a small creature with green fur scurrying ahead of her. Curious, Sunny ducked under some brambles, thorns cutting her cheek and catching her hair. She yanked away, her hair tangled, and then tripped over a vine, falling on her face. “Oww,” she groaned. She realized then that the ground below her wasn’t really sand; it was more like bits of sharp black rock.

When she heard a panicked squeaking she jolted to her knees. What she saw first was a huge carnivorous plant. Its teeth dripped with an icky brown substance, and its stem, as well as its massive jaws, were mottled brown and gray. The squeaking came from the green rat like creature and Sunny could see that it was trapped underneath the plant’s thorny vines. Before the plant could dive at the ground, Sunny pulled out her pocket knife and hacked away. The plant roared at her, the brown juice spattering her face. Sunny yelled back. “Shut up, you stupid plant!”

Just a couple cuts and her hands pulled the creature out. She stumbled away from the angry plant and stared at the animal’s cute face. It kind of looked like a ferret, except it was green with a gray stripe from its forehead to its tail. “Aww! Hi there!” Sunny said, already thinking of names and bringing the creature back to Earth with her. However, the cuteness didn’t last long. The animal bared its sharp teeth and bit down hard on her thumb.

“Ouch!”

She dropped it and stuck her thumb in her mouth, the acrid taste of blood filling her mouth. “That’s how you repay me?” she spat. “Not going to save you again. Jerk.”

The familiar panic set in and Sunny fell to her knees, starting to hyperventilate. “Oh, God,” she murmured, and a lump gathered in her throat – she couldn’t do this. Why did she think that she could? Why did she wish to be here? She was helpless, and she’d be better off back home. The tears flowed down her cheeks and she felt her body burning up. She feared the worst: what if whatever was allowing to be here was wearing off? What if she was going to burn up and die? She screamed.

“Sunny!”

A familiar voice broke into her thoughts and she turned around to see Tod.

Her eyes narrowed. He was wearing a long green and white cape with a gray romper underneath. He was still wearing his sunglasses. And somehow, he looked less foolish than he usually did. “Tod,” she breathed in relief, getting to her feet and wiping tears from her eyes. “I – how’d you find me?”

He stepped closer, swallowing. “I can see you.” When she looked confused, he added, “It’s a Setareh thing.”

“Right.” Her hands shook, and she had so many questions, but all she said was: “Um, the word dross? It means rubbish.’ Did you guys know that when you settled your planet?”

“No,” Tod said, shaking his head. “But I guess it makes sense because the Setareh – they made a garbage planet into something…better.” He paused. “You’ll see.”

“Where’s Eli?” Sunny said suddenly. “Did he get here?”

“Oh – ” Tod was about to reply when a woman crashed through the undergrowth and came to a stop in front of Tod. “I cannot believe you!” she yelled at him, smacking him hard.

“Ow.” Tod rubbed his jaw.

“Uhm – ” Sunny said. “Who are you?”

“Don’t talk to me,” the woman said, pointing a finger at Sunny. Then she turned back to Tod and said to him: “You get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness.”

“No.” Tod shifted his weight, knowing that Isolde was definitely serious with the getting down on his knees thing but also knowing that Isolde had a pretty short attention span. “Take us back.”

“Okay, guys, what is going on?” Sunny said.

Isolde turned to her. “Your little friend here tricked us,” she snapped. “He said he just wanted to protect you. Not bring you to our planet. Then he forced me to take him to find you.” She gritted her teeth. “Since he doesn’t have Eli, he barely has any of his power. Disgusting.” She spat on the ground.

“Eli?” Sunny felt faint. “Where’s Eli?”

“He’s going to be executed. And we’re going to be late to the party if we don’t hurry up,” she said, and for the first time, a spark of joy entered her eyes. “So let’s go.”

Tod shook his head. And this is the woman I’m having a kid with.

He wasn’t telling Sunny that anytime soon.

***

Sunny had had two panic attacks already, and she wasn’t ready for a third. But she was freaking out about Eli. What if they didn’t get there in time? While Isolde got ready, which meant fiddling with all her accoutrements, including her whip, her gloves, and her stupid forehead band, Sunny stared at Tod.

“I don’t like heights,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry,” Tod said, squeezing her shoulder. “I’ll be right next to you. Just shut your eyes and we’ll be there in no time at all.” He looked at Isolde. “And Izzy, you’re fine with carrying both of us?”

“What did you call me?” She put her hands on her hips.

Tod swallowed. “It’s just a nickname – ”

She grabbed him by the arm, jerking him hard, and gave Sunny the same treatment. “Ow,” she whined.

Isolde took a breath, then they shot off into the sky. Sunny shut her eyes tightly, then a horrid thought came to her. What if Isolde dropped her? She’d be dashed to pieces on the ground below. She really hoped this person was nicer than that.

What if I just dropped this stupid human girl? Isolde thought to herself. She’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t thinking about it. But the truth was, she wouldn’t do it. And she knew what was holding back, what would always hold her back. Nobody, at least barely anybody, on Dross were in relationships for love. Love didn’t survive on their planet. They weren’t wired for it. And people who fell in love usually ended up depressed or dead. Her mom had been Cassiopeia and her dad had been a Taurus. It hadn’t gone well when the war happened. But she’d been born out of their love. Sometimes she still felt it. But she pushed it down. Until it came to a choice like the one she was carrying right now.

And she thought of her parents and she couldn’t help but do the right thing out of guilt. If it even was the right thing.

Well, she told herself, it didn’t matter. It was at least what her mother would have wanted, and that was right enough, at any rate.

Question time: What is the reason why you have a smartphone? Most people would answer: “internet.” And while most of us need our phones, the internet can and will distract us from doing things which is why Samsung has found a solution.

Samsung’s Galaxy J2 Pro is the bare necessitites when it comes to a phone nowadays. This version of the Galaxy allows to call, text and to take photos with 8 megapixal rear camera and 5 megapixal front camera but the selling point of the phone is that the phone has no internet service at all (no WIFI or data).

The phone is only going to be sold in South Korea since students (high school seniors) down there, are getting ready for the toughest test of their lives called suneung, a test that will essentially determine the rest of their lives and that’s not a exaggeration. Unlike in America where there’s multiple factors that play into getting into college, South Korea students have had the idea of suneung being the deciding point of their lives.

The phone comes in only two colors, black and gold, and it will cost around 200,000 won, or around $190.

The best part about the phone is not the specs but the promotion that Samsung is running. Once students are done with the exhausting test, they can trade in the phone for a new Samsung Galaxy S or an A-series phone released after 2018 and have the cost of the J2 reimbursed.

The Galaxy J2 Pro will most likely never be released outside of South Korea since most countries don’t take testing as serious as South Korea does but nevertheless, this phone is unlike no other phone released today. It can take you to a time where phones were not used for internet but for only calling and texting

Recently a report has been published by Goldman Sachs analysts exploring the question “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” The idea behind it being that as “one-shot cures” rid more and more people of their disease and/or medical condition, the need for that particular medicine will go down, as there fewer people to spread it. The report cited a study about treatments for Hepatitis C that have more than a 90 percent cure rate. As a result of that effective treatment, the need for that treatment decreased significantly, as did the profits from it. All of this begs the question, what in the world is wrong with medical companies?

It would seem that profit is the greater concern over improving lives and saving lives. This report appears to suggest that medical companies developing treatments and cures for sick people should focus their efforts on diseases that can and will appear on their own, without the need for carrier. It suggests that the research should focus more on disease like cancer or medical conditions like asthma not because they should try to cure it, but because it has a more sustainable business profit. That is to say, because people will always have to deal with these conditions, and therefore they can continue to profit off of the sick. And as for the people will curable or potentially curable disease or conditions? It seems they are just going to get ignore and be left to suffer. It is apparently a bad thing that so many people got treated for Hepatitis C.

What sort of world do we live in were profit is put above improving and saving lives? It is understandable that companies need to make a profit so they continue to fund medical research, but it should never be taken so as to even consider placing profit over the lives of their patients. If this is how things are going to go, how until we hear from our doctors that our illnesses are curable, but that they will not cure it because it would mean less money for them and the medical companies?

The ancient looking hand opens, slowly, and drops a bag of Peanut M&M’s onto the counter.

“Oh,” Mickey says, “Okay. That’ll be $2.25”

There’s a loud thump behind her as, presumably, Sid faints and hits the linoleum. Just as slowly, the front-most hooded figure pulls a five-dollar bill from somewhere on their person and retrieves the M&Ms. The hissing sound gets louder, and as they float back out the door Mickey takes it to mean, “Keep the change.”

Mickey turns to check on Sid, who has since come to. He rises slowly his feet, staring intently at her for a long moment before he gathers up the courage to actually speak.

One of gaming’s most famous figures, Billy Mitchell has been stripped of all of his records that he has held for decades.

Mitchell, 52, had held the title of being the first person to have scored one million points on the arcade game “Donkey Kong.” The decision comes after many years of allegations of cheating towards Mitchell which he has denied many times.

Twin Galaxies, which tracks video game records believes that Mitchell’s scores were achieved with the use of emulator, a computer program that replicates an arcade or console machine. They presented their findings to Jeremy Young, a Donkey Kong forum operator who after seeing pictures of Mitchell’s gameplay, says that “those scores were impossible to achieve without a emulator.”

After Twin Galaxies did their own investigation, they concluded that Mitchell had indeed used a emulator and with the evidence posted on their page, they decided to ban all of Mitchell’s scores which include the first perfect score (3,333,360 points) in the original Pac-Man game and to ban all future scores of Mitchell’s (if he were to continue to play for records).

Twin Galaxies also reported their findings to Guinness World Records who also decided to remove Mitchell’s records from the Guinness Book of World Records.

Now, the record holder for the first person to have scored one million points on Donkey Kong is Mitchell’s rival, Steve Wiebe, who no longer competes for records. Wiebe is currently a math teacher in Washington (the state).

Mitchell has not respond to the stripping of his records and as of now, he may not speak ever but this could not be more embarrssing for the former “best gamer in the world.”

Well, a popular cartoon show, Regular Show had a character on the show called Garrett Bobby Ferguson (GBF) who looked like Mitchell. Mitchell sued the show trying to ruin his image and the case got thrown out of court. The character’s main trait and the reason why Mitchell sued the show… GBF was a villian who cheated at video games.

Well then, it looks like Regular Show has predicted time just like the Simpsons have done for decades.

Once again, Trump has taken to Twitter to address his grievances with the latest debacles, news, and world affairs concerning him. No surprise there, as this seems to occur on an almost weekly basis, which is something we should talk about. For now, let us ignore the specific subject matter of Trump’s latest Tweets, though they do merit attention and consideration, and concentrate on the fact that this is how Trump deals with any backlash or negative criticism.

Donald Trump is, unfortunately, our president, and he should act like it. This man is meant to be the figurehead of our nation, and the singular person that the rest of the world looks to and sees America, and what do they see? An angry man that response to every piece of negative criticism like a child. This man is supposed to be running our country, yet he appears to spend too much of his time concerning himself with the opinions of others, and rushing to Twitter so he can bash and decry those he does not like. This is a man that resorts to, essentially, pointing his finger, calling someone names, and saying they are a liar. He is doing precisely that to James Comey, who is releasing a book on April. 17 that details his (poor) experiences with Trump and had an interview on the 15th about this same book. Given the numerous issues and problems facing the government and America as a whole, not to mention the recent missile strike in Syria (which should be mention), Trump has better things to do with his time than concern himself with a book.

Frankly, Trump only seems to really care about his image. This is not news, by any means, but it bears repeating. His actions seem like that of a desperate man doing his best to discredit any who oppose him for fear that people might actually realize what a horrendous job Trump has been doing. This man may be the President, but he does not act like one or seem to hold much, if any, respect or regard for the position. Simply put, Trump is president in name only.

The cold night air took away Tod’s breath as the woman hauled him through the sky, toward the stars. “Hey, wait,” he tried to say, but the words wouldn’t form in his throat, and even if they had, he knew they wouldn’t have made a difference. They climbed higher and higher until Tod saw a gleam of gold below them – their planet. He could see the mountains from here.

“You know we can’t get through the barrier,” he said. “Not without Eli.” The only way he and Eli could go back in the first place was if they combined their energy and called for the other Gemini to help them. Tod going through alone – it would disturb the balance and their universe would fight against it. Without Eli, Tod was little more than a human.

The woman scoffed. “Well, guess you finally got lucky, Tadraz. I found a loophole.”

Tadraz. My real name. He grimaced. Her fingers latched onto his.

“Wait, what?” He tried to pull away. “What are you doing?”

He could feel her power coursing through his body. “No. No!” He tried to struggle, but she was much too strong. In a moment, she had merged with him and Tod was gone, seeing the world through her eyes, battling with her thoughts. It wasn’t long before her power overcame his and he blacked out.

***

Her name was Isolde and she was going to bring peace to the world. Well, that was the plan anyway. She pulled her hood down, watching Tod as he lay there on the floor. She crouched by his side, pushing his sweaty hair away from his forehead. “Poor baby,” she said.

“Isolde!” a voice echoed in her ear and she heard the familiar clomp of hooves. Smiling, Isolde leaped to her feet to see her father coming her way.

“Daddy,” she said, rushing over to him. “Look.” She pointed at Tod’s body.

Her father laughed. “I’m proud of you.” He kissed her forehead, then stooped lower to look at Tod, his muscles creaking with age. “What is he wearing? You can’t expect to march to the palace with him looking like that.”

She eyed Tod’s strange outfit. “Dad, you know the humans have weird superstitions. Obviously, those plastic things don’t work against us.” She pointed at Tod’s necklace.

Her father was a Taurus, since the line of Cassiopeia was all female. Horns sprouted from his head and tattoos burned into his skin flickered in the light.

“Certainly not.” He chuckled, running a hand over his beard. “So, did someone else get Eli?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure they will.”

“Well, I’m proud of you. You’re going to be queen.”

“Finally. We worked so hard.” She felt the warm light getting steadily warmer inside her and the smile on her face grew brighter. She’d tell her father later. He’d be so happy.

***

“Tod’s gone?” Sunny yelled. She couldn’t believe it. She shook her head. “You were supposed to be watching out for each other.” Her voice trembled.

“I know – I know. It just happened so fast. I’ll find him, don’t worry,” Eli said. Better than anyone, he knew that was what he had to do.

“I’ll come,” Sunny said.

“No,” Eli said. “No, you go back home. You can’t come. You’re a human and you’ll die on our planet.”

“But you can’t even get home without Tod,” she protested.

“I’ll find a way,” Eli said, pushing past her.

Sunny ran after him. “But wait, you can’t just leave me – ”

He didn’t answer, slamming the door. Sunny wanted to run after him, but she knew he was right. There was nothing she could do – she was a human. She’d never hated being a human so much before. It always seemed like it was a gift – make a mistake, well, you’re only human. But now it was what was preventing her from helping her friends.

She checked the time. It was three o’clock in the morning. How worse could this trip get? She’d have to go home, tell her parents what happened. She just imagined how that would go.

“So the boys we adopted, they’re actually aliens from another planet. On the way to Nashville, we got attacked by this woman, who’s also from that planet, but they killed her, so it’s all good, right? But then another came to our hotel and kidnapped Tod. Of course I can’t do anything, so Eli left to go after him. And I didn’t even get to see the solar eclipse. That’s what I’m really bummed about.” Sunny burst into tears. She knew her parents wouldn’t believe her. Her dad would probably say something like, “Cocaine is a hell of a drug,” and her mom would think she was crazy.

Hey, even she thought she was crazy. She remembered that she hadn’t called her parents to tell them that they’d gotten here all right but she figured it was too late now. She lay back on her bed and rubbed her eyes, inhaling shakily. It would be fine. She’d go home, she’d make up a story, say that they found another family – it didn’t matter.

I recently watched a movie called ‘Let Me In’ on Netflix. It’s a sorrowful tale of a young boy growing up isolated, alone and afraid. Bullied at school and suffering through the divorce of his parents at home, his only solace comes when a girl, Abby, moves in with her father, Thomas, next door. He is instantly intrigued by her; she is aloof and reluctant, for reasons that are explained later. But they nevertheless find themselves drawn to one another and are able to bond over a mutual love of puzzles.

The tale unfolds in one sense as a Peter Pan fable. There are elements of eternal youth depicted in the character of Abby, who is revealed to be a vampire. In a more traditional take on the vampire myth, she must be invited into a house like in vampire legends of old. She burns in the sun and is only seen at night. And while it is unknown if religious artifacts have an adverse effect on her, there are numerous religious overtones displayed in the character of Owen’s mother who listens several times throughout the movie to late night sermons on T.V., a habit that is hinted to have contributed to the dissolution of her marriage. Abby is also super-strong, and seems to revert to a more animal state with glowing eyes when feeding.

Despite this, she remains very much a child. In describing her plight to Owen, she self-describes as being “…12. But I’ve been 12 for a long time.” She is inquisitive, laughs, and engages at every turn with Owen for all the world like a 12-year old girl would. She doesn’t really hint that she knows why she has to be invited in to a house beyond knowing that it eventually causes blood to pour from her eyes, nose, and mouth. She knows that she must not be in the sun, and that she needs blood to live. And that is all that is given.

In another sense, this makes Owen and Abby’s infatuation all the more tragic. While being an otherwise very stereotypical childhood crush, the revelation that Abby is a vampire, combined with the discovery that her father is not in fact her father but the last boy she fell in love with, gives rise to the implication that Thomas’ fate is what is in store for Owen.

Owen, like Thomas, will grow old and die in service to a childhood love that cannot grow old with him, in addition to his already ravaged childhood, torn asunder by the divorce of his parents and, towards the end, his near death at the hands of his bullies. This spells depressingly cruel consequences for Owen that two children, one immortal and the other merely troubled, could never be adult enough to foresee. Thomas, it is shown, commits several acts of murder just to collect blood for Abby to survive.

During overheard conversations between Abby and Thomas, it is shown that decades of such murders begin catching up to him as an old man. In the end, after botching a second attack and about to be captured, he douses himself with acid to obscure his identity and, thus, his connection to Abby, protecting her. When she comes to visit him at the hospital, he is unable to invite her in due to the acid damage to his vocal cords. Lastly, unable to speak, he offers himself to Abby, who feeds from him before allowing his body to fall from his tenth floor room. On a police tablet, left by an officer near his bedside should he wish to confess, is scrawled a single line: “I’m sorry Abby.”

By the end of ‘Let Me In’ I was shouting internally ‘Let Me Out’ as I tried to imagine any way in which the ending of such of a path could ever be thought of as romantic or good.

Organ donation is a long and incredibly difficult process. It can be very difficult to get on an organ donation list, and they may not get the organs they need due to the short supply. People can only donate a few organs while they are still alive, so organ donation after death can be extremely helpful for sick people with conditions like heart defects.

There is also the issue of getting a compatible organ. You have to get an organ that matches with your body in order to get the transplant. There is no guarantee that the one organ available will be compatible with a person. Even a blood relative might not have an organ that is compatible. So the more people who become organ donors, the better the chance there is for another person to live.

Organ donors do not have to be the healthiest individuals; anyone can donate parts of their body even if other parts are not in the best shape. A heavy smoker could still donate something like their eyes or even the bones after their death. Every part of the human body can potentially be used to help a person in need. The skin, for example, can be used to help burn victims if doctors get to the deceased fast enough.

In your will, or by proxy after you die, you can still dictate what parts of your body are available for use. If a person wishes to hold on to specific parts of their body, they can. An organ donor still has a certain level of control over their body.

The community still needs organ donors; they are in great demand. While scientists are working toward creating organs in labs to help save lives, they have not yet reached a point where they can keep up with the demand of organs.

One of the greatest threats that mankind faces today is mosquitoes. These pesky little bugs have claimed more human lives than any war has, and now China is entering the battlefield.

According to a senior scientist involved in a Chinese Government project, China is developing a super-sensitive radar that can detect a mosquito’s wing-flapping from 1.2 miles away.

Currently, a prototype of the device is being tested at the Beijing Institute Technology (BIT). The scientist, who declined to be named since this project involves technology used in China’s missile defense system, said that “identifying and tracking individual, mosquito-sized targets is no longer science fiction.”

According to the World Health Organization, at least 1 million people die each year from mosquito-related bites. Mosquitos are the hosts to many diseases like Malaria and Zika.

Controlling the pest is a challenge itself, as they can pass by someone almost without a trace unless they are close by and you can hear that familiar buzzing.

It took decades before military radars could pick up the echoes of small objects at an impressive distance. For example, The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s sea-based X-band radar can detect a baseball-sized object from over 2 miles away.

Liu Xingyue, a professor at the China Agricultural University in Beijing, has very high expectations for the radar. He says that it will be a “precision-guided weapon in our war against the deadliest creature on Earth.”

While it seems that China has great intentions, we do not know for sure how this technology will be used. We can only hope that this radar will be used for good reasons, not unnecessary ones.

Most of us remember a few months ago when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was hearing the case for and against “net neutrality.” Now, we are slowly hearing about the repercussions of repealing net neutrality.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a video game industry lobby group, has decided to join in the lawsuit against the FCC, joining a mix of Democratic state attorney generals, tech companies like Mozilla (Firefox), and many more.

The ESA noted that its members will be harmed by the repeal and it would hurt online gaming the most. In a statement, the ESA said this was “because the FCC’s order permits ISP’s to take actions that could jeopardize the fast, reliable, and low-latency connections that are critical to the video game industry.”

Net neutrality is a very controversial topic in politics. The rules prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling lawful Internet traffic and prevent extra-charges for people looking to get better access. These rules are crucial to the video game industry according to an ESA brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the DC Circuit.

Also in the brief, it was noted that while music and movie streaming providers can use buffering to account for network problems, the ESA noted that their clients can’t do the same.

The ESA is also very worried about the downloads of large games and how these games can be “slowed down” due to the loss of net neutrality.

Big names in the video game industry that are represented by ESA include Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Disney.

ESA’s case will be under the name of Mozilla Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission and the United States of America.

Tod and Eli didn’t talk for a while. Eli stayed inside, and Tod stayed on the balcony railing, resting his arms on it. Tod, especially, was tired of talking. The same old arguments, going around in circles. Same old Eli. And same old Tod. He ran a hand over his face, staring out at the buildings, glowing orange lights, river, stars sparkling in the water. He closed his eyes, remembering his home.

There were mountains, not like where Sunny lived, but sharp jutting ones made of black rock. Their planet was home to nearly five hundred active volcanoes. There were lava flows too, rivers of it. Deadly to a human, of course, but not to him. Since he was part of the Line of Gemini, they lived in the palace, made of gold and white stone. He remembered the giant glass doors and the covered entrance way, glowing with the heat of a thousand suns. Huge man-eating plants to his left – Tod hated those things. Eli had threatened to feed him to the plants more than a few times. Getting fed to one of those plants would be better than this current situation. Anything would be.

He nearly leaped out of his clothes when a voice said, “You’re thinking about home.”

Taking a breath, and hurrying to calm his panicking heart, Tod turned around to face Eli, barely illuminated by the stars above.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that. You should know better.”

Eli didn’t answer.

“But yeah, I’m thinking about home. It’s pretty. And not as cold.” He really hated the cold.

Eli set his jaw. “Also, our people really need your help.”

“Me? And all of a sudden you’re leaving yourself out of the equation? That’s not like you.”

Eli made an awkward sound. He wasn’t sure what to make of Tod’s sass sometimes. “No, obviously, they need me too – but…” He sighed. “We need a balance. You…you provide that.”

Tod narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust you.” When Eli rolled his eyes, he snapped, “Can you blame me? You tried to kill me.” He remembered the cold all too well. The flickering in his body, weak and tired, about to go out. All his strength was spent creating his human form. He couldn’t be a Setareh on Earth, just a human, and that body was dying, too cold, too beat up from the fall.

He owed Sunny and her family his entire worthless life.

“Don’t think that I’m going to forget that. Don’t just act like we can go back to normal – ”

Eli shook his head. “You’re turning into a human. I cannot believe you.”

Tod clenched his fists, anger pulsing through him. He would have punched Eli’s face in if it wasn’t for his ounce of self-control. Turning into a human – did he really think that he was turning into one because he had feelings all of a sudden? What a concept. “You don’t understand me. And you’re not even trying to, because all you care about is yourself!” Tod snapped.

“And it’s the same with you,” Eli said. “You won’t even look at it from my point of view.”

“Yeah, because you’re a heartless monster. You don’t care who you end up hurting. You say you need me for a balance, whatever that means, but you would never listen to me in a million years.”

Eli shook his head. “How do you know that? You always exaggerate.”

“Whatever. It’s true,” Tod said, rolling his eyes, though he knew he was exaggerating. He just wanted to hurt Eli, to make him feel the way he had felt. It had been so hard seeing him again for the first time in five years. No, his life with Sunny wasn’t perfect. Yes, it sucked that people were coming after him on Earth, trying to remind him of his duties on his home planet. But he’d rather be on Earth than spend a day in that hell hole again. It was one battle after another, what felt like five different factions complaining and arguing. It would never change.

“Tod, I understand. You’re scared to rule after being here for so long, but I promise everything will be fine. You’ll get to see Mom and Dad again.”

“Oh goodie. I know they’ll be thrilled.”

Eli paused.

“That’s sarcasm. They always liked you way more. I bet they didn’t shed a single tear.”

Eli swallowed; he didn’t have much of a response for that. The truth was, they hadn’t cried at all and said that it would probably be better for the Setareh anyway. “So?” he managed to say.

Tod struggled for words, a lump gathering in his throat. “So? They hate me.”

“It doesn’t matter if they cried or not. What matters is that your people need you and you’re about to turn your back on them.”

“Yeah. Just like you turned your back on me when you cut me off and threw me down here. I almost died.”

“Tod – get over it,” Eli said, throwing his hands up in the air.

“No. I owe my life to Sunny. Not you.” He gritted his teeth.

“I’m stuck on Earth if you don’t help me.” Eli grabbed Tod by the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to his face. Tod yanked away, his back banging against the railing. He ignored the pain.

“Shouldn’t have tried to kill me.” There was a bitter taste in his throat.

“Look, Sunny’s right about one thing. If people from Cassiopeia are coming after us, trying to take over – we need to stay together. We can’t fight back if we’re in an argument ourselves.”

Tod sighed in annoyance, but Eli had a point. Somehow Cassiopeia must have overheard their plans – he didn’t know how. But they had their ways up there. “Yeah. I know. We have to protect Sunny.”

Eli nodded. “For Sunny.”

There was a long pause before Eli said, “So Sunny doesn’t know you have feelings for her, right?”

Tod shook his head. “No, of course not. That would be like shooting myself in the foot. I’m sure she’d say no. And obviously, I know how you feel about the whole thing, so.” He shrugged. “It’s – ”

He didn’t have time to finish. He saw a woman from Cassiopeia out of the corner of his eye. She hovered above the railing and then smacked Tod hard across the face. Eli yelled his name but he didn’t even have time to grab his hand. The woman picked Tod up, flinging him over her shoulder. Eli grabbed onto the woman’s electric whip, hauling her towards him, even though the cord bit into his flesh, making him wince. The woman was stronger and pulled away from him, and he fell to his knees, watching her vanish. He swore loudly. No. No. This couldn’t be happening. He was so close. It seemed like Tod was maybe, just maybe, starting to become a little less stubborn – if he could have just pushed a little harder, but now –

We all love our different types of chocolate, ice cream, and sodas. They all taste so good, but they also have another thing in common…they all have high amounts of sugar.

Over time, people have used many different methods to lose weight such as juicing, fasting (the worst thing to do to your body), and cleansing. These diets are just the way they sound – they don’t do your body any good. So how does a sugar detox/cleansing do the opposite?

Sugar has been described as a “legal drug.” It doesn’t look much better when according to Robert Lusting, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, at least 10% of Americans have a sugar addiction. Research from the National Center of Biotechnology Information found that sugar has traits related to those of addictive drugs.

So, with sugar being more or less, a drug, how can we quit it? According to Brooke Alpert, the co-author of “The Sugar Detox: Lose the Sugar, Lose the Weight — Look and Feel Great (no, this is NOT an advert to buy this book), we should quit sugar… cold turkey.

After 3 days, an apple should be very sweet to you and you “should” start to lose weight after a few days to a week.

Sugar is very addicting and for those who don’t have a problem with sugar addiction should maybe still look into kicking out sugar from their lives. Your body will thank you with youth and good looks.

PSA: this article does not promote any lifestyles or diet. However, based on different studies, sugar can be compared to an “addictive drug.”

Everyone in college inevitably has to write a few papers for some of their classes. It is all part of the college experience, especially when you end up writing a paper at 3 in the morning when it is due at 10 that morning. We have all had to pull a few all-nighters to get our work done. Part of the reason for that is always the time getting away from us. We think we have enough time, that the paper is not due for another week, or four days, then suddenly it is the night before it is due and none of us have even made the word document. It would probably work out better if we tried to write a small bit at a time rather than all at once.

There are some pros to writing a paper in a single night. You can spend all of the extra time working on the other homework that piles up. We all end up with an overwhelming amount of work eventually; sometimes the best course of action is to put off that big paper to get other work done, especially when it is due much sooner than the paper. But we could do better with a bit of time management and a willingness to spread the work around.

A more efficient way to go about writing a paper, especially as we near the end of the school semester, is to write small portions of it over the course of the week before it is due. Spend an hour and write an introduction. The next, you can take another hour to make your first body paragraph. Keep up that trend and before you know it, you will have a full and finished paper. Admittedly, this is just one way to go about writing it, and it has its cons too. It can be difficult to start and stop when writing a paper and maintain the same level of quality, but it is just some advice for the upcoming weeks of finals.

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Black Coffee

Black Coffee is a joint media project created and produced by Whim and Radford on Camera. Black Coffee takes the talents of Radford’s musically gifted and provides them with an outlet to play for the community by means of student-run, student-produced media.